Alpha Kids Day Nursery

Alpha Kids Day Nursery 39 Lea Bridge Road, LONDON, E5 9QB

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 07/10/2013 04/06/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 4 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 4 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

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This provision is inadequate

 Staff have limited knowledge and understanding of child protection issues, including allegation made against staff and whistle blowing, which compromises children's safety.  The owner has not ensured that those caring for the children are not suitably vetted.  The staff are not well deployed to help ensure children are well supervised during the morning shifts.  Staff lack questioning techniques to help extend children's communication and language skills.  New children are not assigned a key person meaning children are hindered in forming emotional attachments to one person and parents are not informed of their child's key person.  Staff do not sufficiently minimise the spread of infection or germs to children.  Staff and children have not yet taken part in practising the emergency evacuation procedures to ensure that children can be evacuated quickly in an emergency.  The manager does not effectively monitor or support staff in their practice.

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This provision is inadequate

 There is no system in place to evaluate and reflect on practice in order to address areas for improvement and promote good outcomes for children.

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It has the following strengths

 New children are helped to settle into the nursery at their own pace.  The staff give children opportunities to hear their home language in the nursery.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the children during play and the staff's interaction with the children

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled some documents, which included attendance register, policies, staff records and the assessment and observation reports. Also the activity plans and the record of the risk assessment record were sampled.  The inspector had discussions with parents

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Information about the setting

Alpha Kids Day Nursery registered in 2013. The setting operates from a purpose-built building and is situated in Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney. The nursery serves the needs of the local families. All children share open plan playrooms, located at ground floor level and a secure enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery is open from 7.30 am to 6 pm for 51 weeks of the year. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. There are currently 25 children from one year to under five years on roll. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery receives nursery education funding for children aged two, three and four-years-old. Staff care for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and children who are learning English as an additional language.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs five staff, of whom two hold early years qualification. One member of staff is working towards a National Vocational Qualification at level 2. The manager has teacher qualified status.

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enforcement action:

We will issue a Welfare Requirements Notice requiring the provider to:

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enforcement action:

- train all staff to understand the safeguarding policy and procedures, ensuring that all staff have up to date knowledge of safeguarding issues

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enforcement action:

- demonstrate that there are effective systems in place to ensure that staff, and any other person who is likely to have regular contact with children, are suitable; this must include completing Disclosure and Barring Service checks for all adults who work with the children

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enforcement action:

- ensure that staffing arrangements meet the needs of all children and ensure their safety; this is with specific regard to ensuring that there are sufficient staff on the premises at all times

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enforcement action:

- put appropriate arrangements in place for staff supervision and appraisals to identify any training needs, and secure opportunities for continued professional development.

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must:

 ensure each child is assigned a key person and that systems are in place to inform parents of who this person is

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must:

 take appropriate steps to prevent the spread of infection or germs, with particular regard to cleaning routines in the baby room and arrangements for serving food

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must:

 take steps to ensure the safety of children, staff and others on the premises in the case of fire or any other emergency by ensuring the fire drill works in practice

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must:

 improve the programmes for communication and language development by using open questions to enable children to think, respond and express their ideas.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 foster a culture of continuous improvement by developing a more robust system of self-evaluation to clearly identify strengths and weaknesses.

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who attend

Children are not adequately supervised and safe during the early morning session. This is because the manager does not make sure that sufficient staff are on the premises to manage the numbers of incoming children at the start of the day. Additionally, the manager and staff have not considered the individual needs of the children who arrive early, particularly those children aged under two years old. This compromises the welfare of the children and compromises their safety.

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who attend

The staff generally know children's stage of development at the start of their placement because they obtain information from parents about their child's interests, favourite toys and social skills. Staff are able to talk about how they are moving children on in their learning and development. They set realistic targets to sufficiently challenge children in some areas of learning. This demonstrates that they have a satisfactory understanding of child development.

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who attend

Children benefit from playing with modelling dough and they use a range of small tools to promote their physical skills, for example dough cutters and rolling pins. Staff sing nursery rhymes regularly with babies and children. Consequently, babies are beginning to imitate actions and children enjoy taking part in action and rhyme songs. Staff engage children in general conversations throughout the day and during circle time sessions where they begin share their experiences with their friends. During activities staff talk to children though mainly to name objects and encourage young children to repeat what is being said. However, children's communication and language skills are not sufficiently challenged or extended. For example, during the play-dough activity, staff do not encourage children to give explanation, describe or compare their dough balls in order for them to express their reasons, thoughts and ideas. Staff are teaching children different

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who attend

techniques for applying paint to develop their early writing skills. They use paint brushes, sponges and also their hand and feet to apply paint prints and make marks. Older children start to make marks to represent things and their experiences. Young children have opportunities to explore water and they enjoy splashing in the water. Staff provide children with a range of small world figures, props and dolls, which they use to act out real life experiences, demonstrating an ability to use their imagination.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

New children are not assigned a key person to help them develop a close relationship with a specific staff at the start of their placement to support their self-reassurance and emotional security. This also results in some parents not knowing who to go to or who their child's key person is. These are breaches of the welfare requirement. Children attending the nursery come from a wide variety of backgrounds. The staff are aware of children's backgrounds and their home language. Staff seek support from parents about children's home languages. They also obtain key words from parents and use these words to communicate with children learning to speak English. This means that children are given opportunities to hear their home language in the nursery, thus helping children to feel that their home language is important. Staff are sensitive to the needs of new children and allow them to settle at their pace. Staff manage children's behaviour through

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

distraction and simple explanations. The children respond appropriately to requests for good behaviour.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Staff's inefficient daily routines do not help to reduce the risk of germs or infection to children. For example, staff sweep the baby area while babies are on the floor. Staff come in from the outdoor play area or off the street and walk through the baby area with their shoes on even though the majority of babies are at the stage of crawling. Additionally, staff members responsible for preparing and cooking children's meals do not always take appropriate steps to prevent contamination of food. They do not wear protective aprons, for example. These practices have a negative impact on children's health. Older children demonstrate that they are able to manage their own hygiene and personal needs as they use the toilet independently and wash their hands after visiting the toilet. Staff monitor young children washing their hands and provide support for them to develop independent skills.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

The nursery's menus indicate that meals on offer for children are generally healthy, which consists of meals such as, fish pie, cheese and potato bake, vegetables and cake and custard. Children appear to enjoy eating chicken with rice and vegetables for their lunch. Children receive regular drinks of water throughout the session. Staff make up babies milk feeds and feed babies according to each child's needs. Children benefit from daily opportunities to play outside in the fresh air. They use a basic range of outdoor play equipment, which includes balls, hoops, and a tricycle and doll size buggy. These resources give children some opportunities to develop their physical skills. Babies are gaining confidence in using furniture to pull up to a standing position. Staff support babies to learn to walk as they hold their hands and give them encouragement to make take steps. Children regularly practise using small tools such as, pencils, paint brushes, and

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

rolling pins and plastic pastry cutters when playing with dough. This shows that children are developing their finger and hand movements.

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provision

This inspection took place as a result of information received by Ofsted that raised concerns about the welfare of the children. There were concerns that children were dressed inappropriately for outdoors and left unsupervised for a long period of time. The inspection found no evidence to say that children are inappropriately dressed for outdoor play, however there are times when children are not sufficiently supervised. The nursery arrangements for safeguarding are inadequate. Consequently a number of the welfare requirements have been breached, many of which relates to safety, health and the well- being of the children. Some of the staff have insufficient knowledge to safeguard and promote children children's welfare. For example, staff have an incomplete knowledge of the signs and symptoms that would cause them to have concern about a child's welfare and the procedures for allegations made against staff and whistle blowing. The manager

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provision

has not completed the required suitability checks on a volunteer who attends the nursery and assists in caring for children alongside staff twice a week. Although there is some evidence available to show that the manager has viewed some checks for current and new staff, the manager is not able to provide evidence that she has undertaken disclosure and barring suitability checks on the new staff members. This compromises the welfare of the children.

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provision

The staff carry out daily risk assessments both indoors and outdoors and this enables them to identify and address potential hazards to children. However, the staff have not yet practised the emergency evacuation procedure with the children to help them become familiar with the routine in the event of an emergency. The manager's system for staff deployment is inconsistent during parts of the day and therefore does not ensure children's safety. This is because one member of staff is on duty at beginning of the day, often caring for three to five children on six consecutive days. During the inspection, a member of staff was observed caring for three children under three years, two of them were aged one year, for half an hour with no other adult on the premises to call upon in the event of an emergency.

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provision

The manager has taken appropriate steps to address the recommendation raised at the last inspection, which include promoting children's independence at meal times and developing partnership with parents. However, the manager does not have a system for monitoring and evaluating practice or set targets effectively to improve the outcomes for children. In addition to this, the manager lack full knowledge about staff's practice and performance because she has not yet carried out staff supervision, as required.

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provision

In the main, the staff are developing positive relationships with parents through gathering important information to support children's care routines. Parents are informed about their child's two-year progress check and they are encouraged to add their feedback to the summary report. However, the requirement for information to be shared with parents is not fully met. Parents comment that they are satisfied with the care that their children receive, that the staff are friendly and easy to talk to but they are not clear how staff promote children's language development. Staff have appropriate systems in place to support children with special educational needs and/ or disability. Staff work with parents and external agencies to support children's care and development.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY443998 Local authority Hackney Inspection number 938002 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 25 Name of provider Alpha Kids Day Nursery Partnership Date of previous inspection 04/06/2013 Telephone number 02079989411

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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